An image or video that an individual may consider intrusive or a violation of individual privacy can be easily uploaded to the World Wide Web and be distributed worldwide within minutes or seconds from the time the picture or video was taken. Due to the anonymity of person posting the image or video, it is difficult to identify the person or electronic device that took the intrusive image. Since there is no way to track the person taking the image or video, there is no simple way to hold the person that took the intrusive image accountable.
There are a variety of different techniques for uploading intrusive images or videos on to the Internet. One technique uses “camera phones,” in which cameras are placed on a wireless handset that capture and images and/or video. These camera phones are wireless handsets that operate on a network that freely permits uploading images or videos. The number and type of images collected are typically limited by the amount of available storage or memory on the wireless handset. These wireless handsets include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, WI-FI enabled phones, WiMAX phones, and other such wireless phones that operate using a network system, and which can be communicatively coupled to the Internet.
Another technique for uploading intrusive images or videos is to capture still images or video using a digital cameras or digital video recorders, respectively. Either the camera or video recorder is operatively coupled to a personal computer (PC). The images or video are then uploaded from the electronic device to the PC. If the PC has a broadband connection to the Internet, the images or videos can be easily uploaded to one or more popular websites.
One of the suggested solutions to overcome the privacy concerns associated with camera-enabled mobile phones is to have all camera-enabled phones flash or make a loud sound when they are being used to take a photograph. Regretfully, this solution puts a substantial constraint on the person taking the picture or video, when the use is legitimate.
Another solution leverages the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) 2000 standard, which includes a JPEG 2000 Security (JPSEC) section. Applications addressed by JPSEC include encryption of the image and the verification of the authenticity of the source. However, it appears that JPSEC is intended to protect content and is not intended to prevent intrusive images that violate individual privacy concerns.
Accordingly, there remains a strong need in the art for a system and method that would prevent the uploading of intrusive images or videos, taken by portable devices, such as camera-enabled mobile phones, and thereby minimize privacy violations without placing a substantial constraint on a person taking a legitimate image.